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The Soggy Lords
TasmaniaThe Soggy Lords are a nation of highly religious farmers, fisherman and artisans living a feudal, theocratic life in the north-east of Tasmania, Australia. Since their foundation in 2133, the Lords have lived a low-maintenance life within their borders. Despite this, their religion is taken highly seriously, with even the smallest slights or references to other Gods coming as the greatest insult. In 2287, the Soggy Lords are led by Jeremiah O'Dunne. History The Soggy Lords are a relatively new faction in the Bass Strait although their roots can be traced to Pre-War Tasmania. Pre-War Bible Belt Prior to the Great War, the area that became the Soggy Lords was the backwoods portion of an already backwoods state. The North-East of Tasmania was seen as Australia's Bible Belt. The small spread out population centres were far away from the hustle and bustle of Hobart and Melbourne. As such, reactionary, conservative and religious views prevailed. As global tensions increased and the war against the Chinese in Papua and New Guinea grew more deadly, more and more of the population turned to the Anglican church. By September 2077, 90-95% of the residents of Smithton, Stanley and Redpa attended church at least once a week. The War When nuclear devastation rained down on Australia, the Soggy Lords were spared from the worst of Chinese wrath. The limited Chinese range and lack of high-value targets meant targeting the north-east of Tasmania was simply a waste of resources--it would be much more efficient to send another device into Washington than the literal boondocks of the geopolitical boondocks. Chinese subs in the Bass Strait instead targeted only the most important cities and military bases and left much of Tasmania untouched. . ]] This did not mean the area was left untouched. The dozens of strikes against the Hoddle Grid saw nuclear fallout settle across the Bass Strait region, leaving no one safe. In what would become the Soggy Lords, the collapse of wider society and the approach of nuclear weather saw hundreds killed in the first years after the war. Rioters and refugees fleeing from the major population centres soon turned to banditry and raiding to keep food on their platter. Before the end of 2077, conflict between the locals and the newcomers became a fact of life. A new way of life was soon established. With brigands and monsters plaguing the roads, settlements walled themselves in and became more and more primitive in an effort to become self-sufficient. Religious Foundation In June 2133, in the frigid winter months, an influential preacher from Smith's Town made a loud, public statement about the nature of the Soggy Lords. The wet, soaked region was powerless in its lack of unity, the preacher announced. It was only through the combination of the towns into a vast, religious coalition that the Children of God before him could ensure they lived in a sinless environment. The preacher announced to the crowd that, faced with daily onslaughts of godless tribals and raiding heathens, it would only be through unity and discipline that they ensured their entrance into God's Kingdom. The sermon had little effect on the common man but stuck to the minds of the political and religious elites like flies on honey. Runners were sent to other settlements to bring together vast collections of preachers, Fathers and other variants of Christain leaders to discuss the First Lord's sermon. Under animal fat candles and the day's feeble light, they wondered: what could unity mean? How could it work? And, most importantly, would it help them? A silent revolution swept around the Soggy Lords with these questions. Preachers and Congression leaders turned away from preaching the goodness of only their flock to speaking highly of their neighbours and fellows around the land. Unity and discipline against the tribals and bandits became the favoured subject amongst the educated. Soon, alliances which had been made purely of convenience became stronger and further entrenched. Religious Unification With a web of alliances and religious dialect spreading across the Soggy Lords, unified settlements quickly cropped up. Throughout the 2140s, towns and settlements banded together in larger and larger groups, driving bandits off the roads and mutants out of their layers. Confederacy, unions, alliances and economic treaties grew deeper and wider around the peninsula. The Soggy Lords as a cohesive, single unit first appeared in 2155 in response to a large, reactionary group of raiders and bandits. Centred around the established churches and great stockades around Smith's Town, the Soggy Lord Coalition--as it was first called--soon spread around the centre of the peninsula. The alliance's army, the Lord's Men, exploded in size as more and more men joined up to fight (women were barred entry). Soon, it was winning pitched battles against raiders and large groups of mutants. By November 2162, the modern day boundaries of the Soggy Lords had been established. This is not to say the area had been entirely pacified--small bands of raiders still occupied the peripheries and, as you travelled further south-west, raiders and mutants became more and more common. However, the heartlands of the Soggy Lords had been entirely pacified. Traders could travel the roads with no need for a guard. Slowly, the walls around smaller settlements crumbled--they simply weren't necessary for this age of peace. For the next generation, the Soggy Lords was a peaceful but busy place. Roads were built, trade routes established, and civil and religious works constructed. The overall government was established, with preachers in every town and Smith's Town established as the capital. The Lord's men were deployed to the southern border, where they protected the villages and maintained the border. Prosperity began to abound, with Brumbies seeing more and more use in the post-apocalyptic towns. Dissatisfaction and Revolution The good times don't always last. In 2180, Fisher Families, booted from their traditional hunting grounds in Port Philips Bay and Flounders Island, began to raid the coastline of the Soggy Lords, raising and looting any coastal villages. Worsening this was a growing generation of dissatisfied young people, seeking personal glory. Growing levels of literacy in the major metropolitan areas saw the revival of democratic and even socialist ideas in place of the complete piety currently enforced. In January 2191, these tensions came to a head. A demonstration outside the First Lord's Cathedral in Smith's Town turned bloody, with bricks being thrown and the Lord's Men firing into the crowd. By the end of the week, the literate middle-class had, with the support of elements of the armed forces, seized control of Smith's Town, with a new flag flying from the top of the First Lord's Cathedral. Soon, the First Republic of the Soggy Men was founded. Outside Smith's Town, the revolution did not spread far. Much of the rural peasantry was happy with their lot--they'd been given peace in this life and had been promised peace in the next. While some small, coastal villages also threw out their preachers, the rest of the Soggy Lords continued on. Eventually, the Republicans ran out of supplies and will and welcomed the remaining clergy back into Smith's Town. Re-Organisation While the Republican Revolt failed in replacing the theocracy with a more inclusive government, it did ultimately result in a series of reforms to sweep the civil and military arms of the government through the 2200s. A civil servant within Smith's Town, Patrick O'Fourke, proposed a sweeping change of the current administrative system in June of 2218. O'Fourke's reforms, as they became known, radically changed and modernised the existing system. Prior to the reforms, the Soggy Lords' political system was a mess--dozens of separate communities, allied closely, but with little cooperation. The civil service was a mix of town leaders, 'reborn' warlords and underqualified religious leaders, all with more and less power than their neighbours. O'Fourke's reforms established the principal towns, who would govern them, how they would be governed, which small settlements would support which capital territories, and otherwise established the modern civil sphere. In essence, O'Fourke established the civil service of the Soggy Lords. Military reforms followed later in the years. With tensions with the Tasmanian tribals increasing at a rapid rate and clashes over the Bass Strait islands with Flounders Island increasing in severity, the Lord's Men began to realise the failings of their feudal fighting system. While the armed forces lacked the industrial capacity to compete with the FIN, their struggles against the Tasmanian Tribals taught them the power of discipline. Combining religious discipline with advanced military powers (and the rediscovery of a few texts on colonial military history) saw the tide turn against the tribals. Modern Day In the 2280s, the Soggy Lords remain a feudal theocratic society. While they have established some minor trade routes around the Bass Strait--principally with Flounders Island, Williamstown and Whaler's Wash--they remain isolationist. Their primary interaction with other factions, in fact, is the ongoing skirmishes with the various Tasmanian tribal groups. Layout The Soggy Lords cover much of the north-eastern tip of Tasmania. At it's most northern point lies the Pre-War town of Stanley, now a small industrial settlement and one of few ports. In the south, the Lords butt up against the tribes of Savage River National Park. The Soggy Lords also make claims over Robbin's, Hunter and Three Hummock Island, but these are contested by the other factions in the Bass Strait. Much of the Soggy Lords consists of grasslands and bushland. Since the war, the pristine Savage River National Park has sprawled outwards. Despite slash-and-burn agriculture and constant pruning, bushland continues to grow away from the major settlements. Scarcely one per cent of land could be considered urbanised. Economy The Soggy Lords are a primarily agrarian society, with much of the economy focused on the small scale agricultural communities dotting the landscape. Villages and small settlements are the base level of the Lords' economy. Agriculture provides food to the villagers and is the primary item of trade within the nation. As well as agriculture, some small cottage industries exist. These primarily produce goods directly for settlers and are practical in nature. These items range from hunting crossbows to urns and other ceramics. Internationally, the Lords do contribute to the markets in a limited sense. A portion of agricultural products is shipped overseas, primarily to Williamstown, via Charlie's and HBTC. Lumber is also a valuable export for the Lords, being consumed in homes and factories around the Bass Strait. The Lords have a similarly small number of imports, the largest of which being small arms ammunition. Government By a dictionary definition, The Soggy Lords are an ecclesiology--a system of government in which religious leaders take a leading role in the governance of a nation, but do not claim to be ruling under divine ruling. However, in a more practical sense, the Lords are more of an autocratic monarchy, wrapped in the shell of a theocratic, pious society. The O'Dunne family has ruled over the Lords since the 2190s. Leadership is passed down from father to son, with daughters almost always skipped over. They rule with absolute power and command all aspects of the nation, from the armed forces to the civil service. Supporting the O'Dunnes are a number of Biblos. Biblos serve both as religious and civic leaders. Depending on their position within the Soggy Lords, Biblos can have a range of influence, from a small community leader in a farming settlement to the mayor of a major town. Affiliated Groups The Lord's Men The Armed Forces of the Soggy Lords. Primarily based out of Smith's Town, the bulk of their strength is congregated on South-Eastern frontier with the various tribals of Tasmania. Relations Hobson Bay Trading Company and Charlie's As the two primary trading groups in the Bass Strait, the Soggy Lords interact with Hobson Bay and Charlie's regularly, both as customers and as wholesalers. Fisher Families Despite the large amount of coastline possessed by the Soggy Lords, the Fisher Families are not a large problem in any way. With little to salvage in the area and a lack of safe harbours for the Fishers or coastal villages, interactions between the two are very limited. As such, the Soggy Lords are one of the few groups in the Bass Strait not directly at war with the Fisher Families. Flounders Island Flounders Island and the Soggy Lords have a complicated relationship. Flounders Island seeks to expand further into the islands of the Bass Strait. As such, this brings them into conflict with the Soggy Lords, primarily over the Three Hummock, Hunter and Robbins Island. While war has not yet broken out, tensions remain high between the two powers. Whaler's Wash Whaler's Wash is one of the Soggy Lords most trusted trading partners. The two maintain a reliable trade route, running most days of the week, benefitting both groups immensely. Williamstown While Williamstown's reach extends far and wide across the Bass Strait, it barely touches the Soggy Lords. Occasionally, Hobson Bay will bring some goods from Williamstown. However, there is little market for them in the Soggy Lords. Technology The Soggy Lords, despite their claims of imperial dominance, are barely one step above the tribals they war with. In both the civil and military aspect, the Lords are barely equivalent to Renaissance-era individuals, with much of the population consisting of uneducated, illiterate serfs. While the ruling classes may make limited use of electricity and lighting, much of the population makes use of Whale Oil from the Wash or candles from animal fat. In a military context, the Soggy Lords significantly lack in comparison to their adjacents in the Bass Strait. The military is primarily infantry based, with significant splits between common soldiers and officers. Logistics are positively medieval in nature, with large baggage trains following columns. Most of the soldiers' feed comes from the land, limiting the size of the Lords armed forces. The standard infantry rifle is the Black Powder Rifle. Category:Tasmania Category:Groups Category:Places